- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Titan Books Ltd (24 Jun 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1845760662
- ISBN-13: 978-1845760663
- Product Dimensions: 25.4 x 16.4 x 1 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 938,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
WHEN HIS POWERS FAIL HIM, CAN SUPERMAN FIND STRENGTH WITHIN? In this exciting new collection, showcasing powerhouse X-Men and JLA writer Chuck Austen's first work on the Man of Steel, Superman is exposed to a threat nobody would ever believe he could face - his own humanity! When Gog, a mysterious villain of enormous power, attacks the Teen Titans, Superman's there to help in an instant. But Gog injects Superman with a liquidised form of kryptonite which makes his powers highly unstable! Can a severely weakened Superman cope with the new threats he faces from within and without, with his civilian life as Clark Kent also under fire from hostile colleagues, and Lois Lane absent covering a war in the Middle East?
About the Author
Chuck Austen has written a wide range of titles, including Captain America, The Avengers, U.S. War Machine and the X-Men. He has also written JLA and his own Worldwatch. Ivan Reis has illustrated The Avengers, Crux, Lady Death, Iron Man, The Invisibles, and Xena: Warrior Princess.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
9 reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
With bad writing comes bad readability!
7 Jun 2005
Format:Paperback
Chuck Austen came into this story arc, claiming he would take the character "back to his roots," to the wisecracking, violent incarnation of Superman that dominated in the 30s and 40s. For some, this would be admirable, but when such a turn flies in the face of sixty years of character development, it looks more ridiculous than bold.
Austen wrote two fill-in issues of Superman books before he started this regular gig. In both issues, a normal human character is introduced, bonds with Superman, and dies, causing Superman to begin brooding and questioning his role. In one of the issues, he goes after criminals with a fistful of wisecracks and a blatant disregard for human life, tossing inhabited cars into buildings and whatnot. That's not Superman, folks.
Austen's Man of Steel reads like Spider-Man with a cape. He tells jokes, curses, constantly doubts his abilities, and acts in wholly uncharacteristic ways. Besides that, Austen's "plot" is plagued by too many attempts to look cool with no real substance. Gog and Doomsday attack over the course of the arc that begins with this TPB, and Superman gets repeatedly beaten, even by third-string villains like Weapons Master and no-string villains like the inexplicable Repo Man. The convoluted story makes no sense whatsoever, it does not have any sort of logical flow. Austen's writing fight scenes without cohesion or continuity.
Oh, and just for fun, Austen decides to shake up Clark and Lois's marriage by divorcing Lana Lang and her husband, and portraying her as a desperate girl who can't get over her old high school crush, while simultaneously turning Lois Lane into a cold, jealous b*tch.
The biggest shame of all of this is that Ivan Reis's fantastic art is wasted on such a terrible, terrible story.
Austen can write, he proved that in the excellent maxi-series, "Superman: Metropolis." Unfortunately, his run on Action Comics lacked anything that made "Metropolis" good. Check your local comic shop for the 12 issues of that series (since I don't think they've ever been collected), and avoid this as if it were Kryptonite.
Austen wrote two fill-in issues of Superman books before he started this regular gig. In both issues, a normal human character is introduced, bonds with Superman, and dies, causing Superman to begin brooding and questioning his role. In one of the issues, he goes after criminals with a fistful of wisecracks and a blatant disregard for human life, tossing inhabited cars into buildings and whatnot. That's not Superman, folks.
Austen's Man of Steel reads like Spider-Man with a cape. He tells jokes, curses, constantly doubts his abilities, and acts in wholly uncharacteristic ways. Besides that, Austen's "plot" is plagued by too many attempts to look cool with no real substance. Gog and Doomsday attack over the course of the arc that begins with this TPB, and Superman gets repeatedly beaten, even by third-string villains like Weapons Master and no-string villains like the inexplicable Repo Man. The convoluted story makes no sense whatsoever, it does not have any sort of logical flow. Austen's writing fight scenes without cohesion or continuity.
Oh, and just for fun, Austen decides to shake up Clark and Lois's marriage by divorcing Lana Lang and her husband, and portraying her as a desperate girl who can't get over her old high school crush, while simultaneously turning Lois Lane into a cold, jealous b*tch.
The biggest shame of all of this is that Ivan Reis's fantastic art is wasted on such a terrible, terrible story.
Austen can write, he proved that in the excellent maxi-series, "Superman: Metropolis." Unfortunately, his run on Action Comics lacked anything that made "Metropolis" good. Check your local comic shop for the 12 issues of that series (since I don't think they've ever been collected), and avoid this as if it were Kryptonite.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Good Stand Alone
25 Jun 2005
Format:Paperback
I haven't followed Superman, so I can't put this book into the context of sixty years like the other reviewers here, but as a stand alone, I really enjoyed it. I found the action exciting, and the way other hero's (like the Teen Titans) looked at Superman pretty cool. The action sequences (which one previous reviewer derides) were handled very, very well in my opinion. The art was fantastic, and it was easy to tell exactly what was happening from punch to punch.
As to the Clark/Lois/Lana part of the story -- I found it compelling, but again, I was completely lost as to where the relationships should be in the context of what previous writers have done. Perhpaps in the grand scheme things the relationships might have felt off, but for a stand alone book, it was entertaining. And as far as Superman's actions during the fight scenes -- I didn't see the lack of concern for human life mentioned by the other reviews -- at least not in this vollume, which is the only one I've read. In fact, Supe's seemed pretty self sacrificing and inspiring to me. And as for Superman beating Darksied and all his men in under ten seconds -- as I recall it, the story picks up at the end of a long fight between Superman and Darksied's men, implying the battle has been much longer than portrayed. And while Darksied does appear at the end of the battle, it is not as a participant, so it isn't quite accurate to say Supe's beat Darksied and all his men in ten seconds.
Anyway, as someone who hasn't been following Superman, I enjoyed reading this vollume quite a bit.
As to the Clark/Lois/Lana part of the story -- I found it compelling, but again, I was completely lost as to where the relationships should be in the context of what previous writers have done. Perhpaps in the grand scheme things the relationships might have felt off, but for a stand alone book, it was entertaining. And as far as Superman's actions during the fight scenes -- I didn't see the lack of concern for human life mentioned by the other reviews -- at least not in this vollume, which is the only one I've read. In fact, Supe's seemed pretty self sacrificing and inspiring to me. And as for Superman beating Darksied and all his men in under ten seconds -- as I recall it, the story picks up at the end of a long fight between Superman and Darksied's men, implying the battle has been much longer than portrayed. And while Darksied does appear at the end of the battle, it is not as a participant, so it isn't quite accurate to say Supe's beat Darksied and all his men in ten seconds.
Anyway, as someone who hasn't been following Superman, I enjoyed reading this vollume quite a bit.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Terrible Writing, Good art
11 Feb 2008
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I suppose this comic TPB would be great if you couldn't read and just looked at the pictures. The artwork is solid and detailed. The problem is with the writing. It seems like writer Chuck Austen always wanted to write Spiderman and got stuck with Supes. The plot is scattershot and Superman spends his time making lame one-liners. There is a contrived sub-plot with Clark Kent being demoted and neither his boss or his wife will tell him about it. The soap opera BS of Lana Lang's pining for Clark and questioning of Lois Kent's commitment to her husband was pathetically weak. And there was the inexplicable fight sequence mixed in with that sub-plot that had nothing to do with anything. What was that all about? Zero stars for writing and 4 for art. If you want to have some cool pictures for your kid to look at, pick this up. If you want to read a Superman trade that is up to expected standards, forget it.
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